


Swapping Shifts

by Graceybrook



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 09:43:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17139467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Graceybrook/pseuds/Graceybrook
Summary: Detective Danvers pulled the Christmas shift at work, well for a day she did, until Detective Sawyer swapped shifts with her.





	Swapping Shifts

Detective Alex Danvers had always been a hard worker, right from her first science project at the age of seven when she’d presented a fully motorised Lego carousel against everyone else’s volcano’s and solar systems. But she was never one to shy away from family commitments either; so when Captain Henshaw released the holiday rota and she saw that she had landed the Christmas day shift she groaned.

“Did you land the Christmas shift Danvers?” Maggie Sawyer asked.

Alex nodded “I guess it had to happen eventually, I’d had the last three off. I was just looking forward to seeing my family, it’s been a hell of a year.” Alex shrugged and turned back to her paperwork, not noticing the thoughtful smile on the other detective’s face as she looked over the rota on her computer screen.

~~~

Alex checked her emails as she packed up her desk for the day. A habit of hers, just in case anything important needed seeing to. 

Hanshaw, Hank  
Subject: Revised Christmas Schedule

Alex’s brow furrowed, revised? What was wrong with the first one? Opening the attached document, she skimmed through it looking for the updates. 

Christmas Day 08:00-20:00: Det Olsen & Det Sawyer

Alex looked over her screen towards Maggie’s desk. She was writing out a report and seemed completely oblivious to Alex’s open-mouthed stare. Alex grabbed her bag and shrugged on her jacket before walking in the direction of Maggie’s desk.

“Hey Sawyer, did you switch shifts with me?”

Maggie lifted her head and tucked a strand of hair out of her face. “Well, you and Vasquez have been working really hard on the Arias case, I thought, and Olsen agreed by the way, that you two deserved the holiday off.”

“What about you? Don’t you want to see your family?”

Maggie shrugged and half smiled, “My family live out of state, and we don’t really talk anyway. Now please go home before I have Henshaw undo the change.”

“Well thanks. I owe you.”

~~~

Alex woke up on Christmas Day far earlier than she needed to. She didn’t need to be at Kara’s until half 12 and yet her bedside clock read 06:48. On any other day if she woke up early, she would probably be productive and go on a run, but as it was Christmas Alex decided to migrate to the couch and watch The Holiday.

Alex switched off the TV as the credits rolled, 09:08, a much more reasonable time to start getting ready. She paused for a moment before shooting a quick text to Maggie, one again thanking her for the swap and wishing her a Merry Christmas.

~~~

Across town at the precinct, Maggie was standing in the kitchen making coffee when her phone buzzed.

Thanks again for taking this shift. I really can’t thank you enough. Merry Christmas, I hope the shift passes without any drama

Don’t worry about it Danvers, enjoy the time with your family

Maggie picked up her mug and returned to her desk to the stack of paperwork waiting for her.

~~~

Alex had barely set foot in her sister’s apartment before she was engulfed by her niece and nephew. Her sister Kara had adopted twins Ellie and Charlie when their parents had died a couple of years ago.

“Auntie Alex!” They called as they hugged tight to her legs.

“Kids let Alex put down her bags first.” Lena appeared just behind her children and took the bags from her sister in law giving her a welcoming kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you Lena, Merry Christmas. And a Merry Christmas to you kids.” Alex said bending down to hug the twins.

Alex took the twins hands and listened to them chatter about all the presents under the tree, Kara and Lena watching from the kitchen, bright smiles on their faces.

“What time are Mom and Dad getting here?”

“Mom texted me when they were leaving, that was an hour ago, so they shouldn’t be too far behind you.”

~~~

Back in the precinct Maggie had collected her takeout from the delivery man and was just sitting back down at her desk when her phone rang, this time it was her partner, James Olsen.

“James, I said I’d ring you if anything came up, what will Lucy say with you ringing me?”

“Actually it was her idea, just to check if you were okay. Are you sure you won’t join us at the end of the shift?”

“I don’t want to intrude, really I will be fine, tell Lucy I am absolutely fine. Merry Christmas James.”

~~~

“Lena have you got a lot of leftovers?” Alex asked, “One of the Detectives at work swapped shifts with me so I could be off today; the least I can do is take her some food.”

“Oh of course, that was very nice of her. Did she not want to see her family?” Lena asked boxing up various leftovers and even including a small tub of gravy.

“I think her family live in Nebraska, but I’ve only seen photos of her sister on her desk and she rarely talks about her parents.”

“Well she would always be welcome here.” Lena smiled handing Alex a bag with various Tupperware in.

~~~

Alex walked into the precinct and, even though she knew it would be quiet, she was still surprised to find it so. Used to it being full of cops busy working on a case or kicking back with a cup of coffee.

“Danvers, what are you doing here? I didn’t swap shifts so that you could spend Christmas at work.”

Alex held up the bag of Tupperware, “I bring food.”

Maggie narrowed her eyes before breaking out into a smile and beckoning her to her desk “Food is always welcome. but you didn’t have to do this, really. I was happy to swap.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to be alone at Christmas, speaking of which, wasn’t Olsen meant to be working today?” Alex asked from the kitchen looking around at the sparse precinct.

“I said he didn’t need to come in, there was no need for him to be here as well.” Maggie shrugged.

Alex returned to Maggie’s desk and placed the warmed-up leftovers in front of Maggie and handed her a fork before sitting down at James’ desk. “Okay, what is it about Christmas that you don’t like? It’s not the gift giving because you lead Secret Santa every year, It’s not the songs because I only ever hear them coming from your desk and it’s clearly not having to work when it’s your turn because you’ve swapped shifts for the past 3 years. So, what is it?”

Maggie nudged the food around the plastic tub waiting for it to cool down and bit her lip. “I love Christmas, I just don’t have anyone to spend the actual day with. My parents kicked me out when I was 14, they send a card each year, but they don’t want to see me until I “give up this ridiculous notion” My sister comes to visit me over New Year, but Christmas is just me.” Maggie speared some turkey and potato onto her fork.

“Oh, Maggie I’m so sorry.”

Maggie shrugged, but with a mouthful of turkey she didn’t say anything.

“Next year you can come to my Sister’s.” Alex could see Maggie was about to protest so she cut her off, “My sister in law already said it’s fine. And you’ll love her cooking because you love it now. No one should have to be alone at Christmas, even if you don’t mind it.”

Maggie swallowed her food and smiled “That’s very kind of you thanks Alex.”

“In fact, your shift ends in 20 minutes so you can come back to theirs with me. We’ll probably play some boardgame before the kids go to bed and have some hot chocolate.”

“Yeah, I’d like that thank you Alex.”


End file.
